Toy bank



Jan. 3, 1956 H. E. GOSSELIN TOY BANK Filed Aug 13, 1952 I ADDREss CTY asSTATE k PHONE INVENTOR Haw/y J5. 6'06 sefl'fz/ ATTORNEYS United StatesPatent 70 "ice TOY BANK Harry E. Gosselin, Bridgeport, Conn.

Application August 13, 1952, Serial No. 304,110

4 Claims. (Cl. 232-4) The present invention relates to banks andparticularly to small banks such as may be used as a promotion item orgift.

It is an object of the invention to provide a bank which is of simpleconstruction and operation and one which can be made cheaply enough tobe a give away item.

Another object of the invention is to provide a bank having advertisingindicia which is located adjacent a coin-receiving slot andmoney-removing opening so that the indicia will be in a position to beviewed whenever the bank is used. Another object of the invention is toprovide a compartmented bank whereby small coins and large coins andbills may be segregated.

These objects are accomplished by providing a bank with a hollow baseand mounting on the base a simulated building, each of which may, ifdesired, comprise a compartment of the bank with one receiving onlysmall coins and the other receiving the large coins.

In accordance with the present invention the base and building arepreferably formed of plastic material so that it can be readily moldedand produced in volume.

A feature of the invention resides in forming the closure for themoney-removing opening in the base with a notch along one edge whichcooperates with the edge of the opening to provide the coin-receivingslot.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thespecification and claims when considered in connection with the drawingsin which:

Figure 1 is a top view of the device.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the device.

Fig. 3 is a detailed end view of the base with the closure removed.

Fig. 4 is a sectional view along lines 4-4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a detailed view of the garage door in the building throughwhich the coins may be removed.

As shown in the drawings, there is provided a hollow base having mountedon the top surface thereof a simulated building 11 arranged to overlie apart only of the top surface. The building may be of any design but inthe illustrated form of the invention it is shown as a cottage.

The base comprises an upper section consisting of the top 12 and sides13 and a bottom section 14 secured to the sides and forming a hollowmoney-receiving compartment.

The top surface of the base around the building is provided withsuitable simulated landscaping. While this landscaping may be applied tothe top in many ways, in the herein illustrated form of the invention itis formed directly on the top to simulate grass 10a, a flagstone walk10b and driveway 10!: to the garage as shown in Fig. 1.

A feature of the invention resides in having an opening 15 in the side13 of the base through which money deposited in the base may be removedand providing a closure 16 slidably mounted on the base to close saidopenmg.

In the preferred form of the invention the closure is provided withprojecting ribs 17 on the side edges which 2,729,390 Patented Jan. 3,1956 are slidably received in grooves 18 formed on the base. Along oneside edge of the closure is an elongate notch 19 which cooperates withthe adjacent edge of the opening to form a large coin-receiving slot 20through which large coins and bills may be deposited in the base. Thisarrangement greatly facilitates the manufacturing since a separate slotin the base is not required.

On the outer surface of the closure there is a recess 21 to receive afingernail or an implement to assist in sliding the closure to openposition. 2

When the device is to be used as a promotional item, it is at presentpreferred to provide on the top surface of the base a smoothindicia-receiving portion 22 wherein suitable advertising indicia 23,such as the name of the bank or real estate ofiice giving out thedevice, may be inserted. This indica-receiving space is preferablylocated on the top adjacent the opening in the base so that when thecoins are deposited in the base or removed from the base the indiciawill be in position to be readily observed.

If desired the bank may be utilized to segregate large and small coins.This is accomplished by forming the building as a hollow compartment andproviding therein a short coin-receiving slot 24 which is located in thechimney 25 and is smaller than slot 20 whereby only small coins may bedeposited in the building. The garage door 26 for the building isslidably mounted in grooves 27, as shown in Fig. 5, so that the smallcoins can be removed from the building. With this relation between thebase slot 20 and the slot 24 in the building it will be apparent thatlarge and small coins can be readily segregated if desired in eachcompartment.

While the bank of the present invention may be made of any suitablematerial, it is at present preferred to make it of an assembly of moldedplastic parts inasmuch as this will permit large scale production at aminimum of cost. Furthermore, by using plastics a wide variety of colorcombinations may be produced to greatly enhance the appearance of thebank.

Variations and modifications may be made within the scope of the claimsand portions of the improvements may be used without others.

I claim:

1. In a bank of the type described, a hollow base member; a simulatedbuilding mounted on the top of the base to partially overlie said top,the top of the base adjacent the building having thereon simulatedlandscaping, said base having an opennig in the side thereof throughwhich money deposited in the base may be removed; and a closure slidablymounted on the base to close said opening and having a notch in one edgeto form with the edge of the opening a coin-receiving slot through whichmoney may be deposited in the base.

2. In a bank of the type described, a hollow base member; a simulatedbuilding mounted on the top of the base to partially overlie said top,the top of the base adjacent the building having thereon simulatedlandscaping and an indicia-receiving space, said base having an openingin the side thereof adjacent said indiciareceiving space through whichmoney deposited in the base may be removed; a closure to close saidopening, and means on opposed edges of the closure cooperating with theedges of the opening to slidably mount the closure thereon, said closurehaving a notch in one of said edges to form with the edge of the openinga coin-receiving slot through which money may be deposited in the base.

.3. In a bank of the type described, a molded hollow plastic basemember; a simulated building of molded plastic mounted on the top of thebase to partially overlie said top, the top of the base adjacent thebuilding having molded thereon simulated landscaping, said base moneymay be deposited in the base; and means on thefront surfaceforming agrip whereby the closure may be movedfrom closed to open position.

4. In a compartmented bank of the type described, a hollow base member;a hollow simulated building mounted onthe top of the base to partiallyoverlie said top and having a short slot therein to receive only smallcoins and meansfor removing the coins therefrom, the top of the baseadjacent the building having formed thereon simulatedrlandscaping, saidbasehaving anopening in the:

side thereof through which money deposited in the base may be removed;and a closure having means on the opposed edges slidably mounting theclosure on the base to close said opening and having a notch in one ofsaid edges to form with the edge of the opening a coin-receiving slotlonger than the slot in the building and through which large coins maybe deposited in the base whereby the large coins and small coins-can besegregated.

References Cited in the file of this patent 4 UNITED- STATES PATENTS175,107 Johnson Mar. 21, 1876 243,925 La Bau July 5, 1881 895,116Shepard Aug. 4, 1908 1,048,774 Whittam Dec. 31, 1912 2,393,729 AllenJan. 29, 1946

